07Dec Pomona College professor arrested at pro-Palestinian ‘die-in’ protest | The Claremont COURIER

Pomona College professor arrested at pro-Palestinian ‘die-in’ protest | The Claremont COURIER

December 7th, 2023

PHOTO.X Claremont Colleges students participated in a “die-in” protest on November 29, lying down in front of Bridges Auditorium to symbolize the more than 7,000 Palestinian children who have been killed thus far in the Israeli-Hamas war in Gaza. Pomona College professor Arón Macal Montenegro was arrested for trespassing during the demonstration. Photo/courtesy of Samson Zhang

by Steven Felschundneff | steven@claremont-courier.com

A Pomona College professor’s November 29 arrest while participating in a “die-in” protest on the Pomona campus has triggered a wave of concern from colleagues, activists, and administration, ultimately leading to the withdrawal of charges.

Some 175 Claremont Colleges students laid down in front of Bridges Auditorium last Wednesday to symbolize the more than 7,000 Palestinian children who have been killed thus far in the ongoing Israeli-Hamas war in Gaza. The protest was part of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

“Wednesday’s die-in is the latest in a series of student demonstrations with demands for Pomona College to divest its $2.8 billion endowment from weapons manufacturers, call for a ceasefire, and institute explicit protections for vulnerable students,” according to a statement from the campus group Pomona Divest Apartheid.

The Claremont Colleges’ The Student Life newspaper did not name the professor in its reporting, but Claremont Police Department Lieutenant Robert Ewing told the Courier the professor is Arón Macal Montenegro, a lecturer in Chicana/o and Latina/o studies at Pomona College. The Student Life reported the faculty member was arrested Wednesday while “demonstrating in solidarity with Palestinians in front of Smiley Hall, playing music from a speaker.”

Following criticism and calls for investigations into the arrest, Pomona College President G. Gabrielle Starr sent a December 2 email to faculty confirming charges against Montenegro would be withdrawn.

“Along with many of you, I have been grappling with serious concerns about the arrest of a colleague,” Starr wrote in the email. “I have been engaged with counsel and The Claremont Colleges Services since we learned of the incident Thursday, and we have communicated our clear position that no trespass occurred and that all charges related to the situation should be dropped.

“I am pleased to report that law enforcement took this communication seriously, and that the formal process of withdrawal of the charges already has been initiated; this will be completed over the coming week.”

The Student Life news editor Jenna McMurtry and managing editor Mariana Duran and reporter Reia Li wrote the professor had brought students to the protest as a learning experience and then moved a short distance away from Bridges Auditorium while continuing to participate in the protest.

“At the time of arrest the professor was wearing an anti-apartheid T-shirt and playing music on a speaker in solidarity with Palestine,” according to Pomona Divest Apartheid.

Photojournalist Samson Zhang, with student run digital news portal Undercurrents, captured images from just after the arrest. The campus publication also published photos of the arrest on its Instagram page.

PHOTO.X Claremont Police officers Gabrielle Agular, right, and L. Asti confer with Claremont College campus safety officers shortly after Pomona College professor Arón Macal Montenegro was arrested during a November 29 protest on campus. Photo/courtesy of Samson Zhang

“The incident began with the individual playing loud music,” read a statement from Laura Muna-Landa, assistant vice president for communications and community relations with The Claremont Colleges Services. “Despite multiple requests from Campus Safety, the individual refused to lower the music volume and did not comply with the campus policy that requires individuals to identify themselves as members of The Claremont Colleges community.”

Lieutenant Ewing said campus safety was called to Sixth Street at N. College Way because of a person playing loud music. Officers then questioned Montenegro who allegedly refused to lower the volume of the music, Ewing said, adding Montenegro also allegedly refused to provide identification or present a faculty ID card.

According to Ewing, Montenegro also refused to leave the area, at which point campus safety officers said they wished to initiate a private person’s arrest. Once in CPD custody, a search revealed Montenegro’s driver’s license and a Pomona College ID card, which identified them as a Pomona professor.

Montenegro was taken to the Claremont Police station, booked, and later released with a citation to appear at Pomona Superior Court.

A report from the Claremont Colleges Campus Safety Department places the time of the incident at 1:19 p.m. November 29 and cites the charge as 415 PC (2), disturbing the peace, which reads “Any person who maliciously and willfully disturbs another person by loud and unreasonable noise.” According to Ewing, Montenegro was in fact charged with misdemeanor trespassing, not disturbing the peace.

Montenegro’s arrest shocked many of their colleagues and Pomona students.

The Intercollegiate Department of Chicanx-Latinx Studies, of which Montenegro is a member, expressed outrage that a member of their faculty could be arrested during a peaceful protest. The department is calling for a full investigation of the incident including the rationale for calling the police, and issued the following statement:

“The decision by the Administration to call the police was unwarranted. And the charge of ‘trespassing’ even after our colleague was identified as faculty is not only baseless it is a threatening blow to academic freedom and free and open dialogue. It is disappointing to see an incident of racial profiling happening on our campus and against members of our department. It is also unsettling that our rights as an academic community to protest were infringed upon by police.”

“It’s a troubling message that’s sent when police are called to a peaceful protest and then arrest any member of the community — faculty, staff or student — who is being equally peaceful in line with that protest,” Pomona professor Tomás Summers Sandoval told The Student Life.

“Pomona College learned of the incident after it occurred. We were not consulted or notified before police were called,” wrote Pomona College Senior Director of Communications Patricia Vest in an email. “We should have been consulted, and we are working with colleagues at the consortium to ensure proper communications going forward.”

Pomona College Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College, Y. Melanie Wu sent an email to Pomona faculty on Thursday acknowledging “a few faculty members” had contacted her asking for more information about the arrest. On Friday Wu sent a follow-up email stating Pomona’s senior administrator on call should have been consulted before “contacting police in a nonviolent, nonemergency situation.”

“President Starr has reached out to the leadership of the other colleges and the consortium to address our procedures,” Wu wrote in the email. The Claremont College Services “has acknowledged that Pomona leadership should have been contacted before calling police in this instance, and they plan to address this issue.”

Starr’s December 2 email to faculty confirmed charges against Montenegro would be withdrawn.

Starr also stated that the college has been in contact with campus safety leadership to ensure there is a clear understanding of process when campus officers are considering calling law enforcement.

“I appreciate the receptivity of Campus Safety’s leadership, and I am confident this will result in preservation of our mission and values while continuing to ensure a safe environment,” Starr wrote in the email. “There will be many conversations and further work in the coming weeks.”

The Student Life news editor Jenna McMurtry and managing editor Mariana Duran and reporter Reia Li wrote the professor had brought students to the protest as a learning experience and then moved a short distance away from Bridges Auditorium while continuing to participate in the protest.

“At the time of arrest the professor was wearing an anti-apartheid T-shirt and playing music on a speaker in solidarity with Palestine,” according to Pomona Divest Apartheid.

Photojournalist Samson Zhang, with student run digital news portal Undercurrents, captured images from just after the arrest. The campus publication also published photos of the arrest on its Instagram page.

Claremont Police officers Gabrielle Agular, right, and L. Asti confer with Claremont College campus safety officers shortly after Pomona College professor Arón Macal Montenegro was arrested during a November 29 protest on campus. Photo/courtesy of Samson Zhang

“The incident began with the individual playing loud music,” read a statement from Laura Muna-Landa, assistant vice president for communications and community relations with The Claremont Colleges Services. “Despite multiple requests from Campus Safety, the individual refused to lower the music volume and did not comply with the campus policy that requires individuals to identify themselves as members of The Claremont Colleges community.”

Lieutenant Ewing said campus safety was called to Sixth Street at N. College Way because of a person playing loud music. Officers then questioned Montenegro who allegedly refused to lower the volume of the music, Ewing said, adding Montenegro also allegedly refused to provide identification or present a faculty ID card.

According to Ewing, Montenegro also refused to leave the area, at which point campus safety officers said they wished to initiate a private person’s arrest. Once in CPD custody, a search revealed Montenegro’s driver’s license and a Pomona College ID card, which identified them as a Pomona professor.

Montenegro was taken to the Claremont Police station, booked, and later released with a citation to appear at Pomona Superior Court.

A report from the Claremont Colleges Campus Safety Department places the time of the incident at 1:19 p.m. November 29 and cites the charge as 415 PC (2), disturbing the peace, which reads “Any person who maliciously and willfully disturbs another person by loud and unreasonable noise.” According to Ewing, Montenegro was in fact charged with misdemeanor trespassing, not disturbing the peace.

Montenegro’s arrest shocked many of their colleagues and Pomona students.

The Intercollegiate Department of Chicanx-Latinx Studies, of which Montenegro is a member, expressed outrage that a member of their faculty could be arrested during a peaceful protest. The department is calling for a full investigation of the incident including the rationale for calling the police, and issued the following statement:

“The decision by the Administration to call the police was unwarranted. And the charge of ‘trespassing’ even after our colleague was identified as faculty is not only baseless it is a threatening blow to academic freedom and free and open dialogue. It is disappointing to see an incident of racial profiling happening on our campus and against members of our department. It is also unsettling that our rights as an academic community to protest were infringed upon by police.”

“It’s a troubling message that’s sent when police are called to a peaceful protest and then arrest any member of the community — faculty, staff or student — who is being equally peaceful in line with that protest,” Pomona professor Tomás Summers Sandoval told The Student Life.

“Pomona College learned of the incident after it occurred. We were not consulted or notified before police were called,” wrote Pomona College Senior Director of Communications Patricia Vest in an email. “We should have been consulted, and we are working with colleagues at the consortium to ensure proper communications going forward.”

Pomona College Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College, Y. Melanie Wu sent an email to Pomona faculty on Thursday acknowledging “a few faculty members” had contacted her asking for more information about the arrest. On Friday Wu sent a follow-up email stating Pomona’s senior administrator on call should have been consulted before “contacting police in a nonviolent, nonemergency situation.”

“President Starr has reached out to the leadership of the other colleges and the consortium to address our procedures,” Wu wrote in the email. The Claremont College Services “has acknowledged that Pomona leadership should have been contacted before calling police in this instance, and they plan to address this issue.”

Starr’s December 2 email to faculty confirmed charges against Montenegro would be withdrawn.

Starr also stated that the college has been in contact with campus safety leadership to ensure there is a clear understanding of process when campus officers are considering calling law enforcement.

“I appreciate the receptivity of Campus Safety’s leadership, and I am confident this will result in preservation of our mission and values while continuing to ensure a safe environment,” Starr wrote in the email. “There will be many conversations and further work in the coming weeks.”

https://claremont-courier.com/featured/pomona-college-professor-arrested-at-pro-palestinian-die-in-protest-76067/  

07Dec Claremont police says Campus Safety conducted ‘private person’s arrest’ before professor’s arrest, drop trespassing charges at Claremont Colleges’ request 

By Jenna McMurtry and Mariana Duran  December 7, 2023 11:47 am 

Claremont police says Campus Safety conducted ‘private person’s arrest’ before professor’s arrest, drop trespassing charges at Claremont Colleges’ request - The Student Life

This is a developing story and may be updated as new information becomes available.

According to the Claremont Police Department (CPD), Campus Safety (TCCS) conducted a private person’s arrest before CPD officially arrested a Pomona College faculty member Nov. 29, contradicting TCCS’ initial statement that Campus Safety was not involved in CPD’s decision to arrest the professor.

CPD initially responded to Campus Safety’s request for assistance in addressing a noise disturbance by an unidentified individual, who they ultimately arrested on trespassing charges. The individual was an Intercollegiate Department of Chicanx/Latinx professor playing loud music from a speaker and protesting in solidarity with Palestinians.

TCCS spokesperson Laura Muna-Landa told TSL Saturday that after the professor failed to identify themselves, Campus Safety contacted CPD who then “took charge of the situation.” Muna-Landa stated that “Campus Safety had no further role in the resulting actions.”

“The Claremont Police Department made the decision to arrest the individual for trespassing,” Muna Landa said in a previous Friday statement.

However, CPD Lieutenant Robert Ewing told TSL Monday that Campus Safety formally conducted a private person’s arrest, otherwise known as a citizen’s arrest.

“[The professor] was placed under private person’s arrest by Campus Safety. He was not arrested by CPD personnel. CPD officers accepted their arrest,” Ewing said via email.

A private arrest allows someone to arrest another person on probable cause of a public offense, misdemeanor or felony. Whether the individual is brought into police custody depends on if police agree to and accept the arrest.

According to California penal code 837, an individual must be told that they have been put under private arrest and given a reason for why.

After Campus Safety filled out a Private Person’s Arrest form, CPD chose to accept the arrest and placed the professor under their custody on trespassing charges. On Monday, CPD dropped the trespassing charges, according to an email President Starr sent to faculty.

Muna-Landa corroborated the dropped charges Wednesday.

“The Claremont Colleges Services requested that the Claremont Police Department drop all charges against the individual,” Muna-Landa said. “This request has been honored, and there will be no record of the event.”

Campus Safety had initially requested the assistance of CPD for a noise complaint, and the decision for a citizen’s arrest did not occur until after CPD had arrived on campus, Ewing said in an interview with TSL.

During the arrest, the professor repeatedly told officers that they worked on campus, as did several witnesses audible in the videos obtained by TSL.

On Wednesday, Muna-Manda declined to comment on Campus Safety’s arrest request forms, including who signed them and why. She said TCCS is actively investigating the incident, as well as related policies and training practices.

“We will share the recommendations and actions that emerge,” Muna Landa said via email.

Director of Campus Safety Mike Hallinan was present during the arrest, according to Ewing and video evidence. Hallinan has not responded to TSL’s request for an interview.

In a Tuesday interview with TSL, Starr said Pomona will evaluate its racial profiling policies, as well as the policies that may have allowed for the presence of police in a non-emergency situation without consultation between the college and Campus Safety. While the college’s investigation of the incident is still underway, Starr said, at this point she does not believe racial profiling led to the arrest of the professor.

“I have serious concerns whenever police are called to campus, and it’s of utmost importance to me that our full community feel the confidence of public safety, that they will support our community. And that’s what I’m taking it upon myself to make sure,” Starr said.

The college has yet to address the arrest to the campus community. When asked if the college plans to release a statement on the arrest to the campus community, Starr said the college is considering what it needs to say.

“What’s most important for me is to figure out as well as we can what exactly happened because we do not want that to happen on our campus again,” Starr said.

John Paul Ferrantino contributed reporting.

  TCCS Statement on Arrest

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03Dec Pomona dean addresses faculty on arrest, college to look into campus policies - The Student Life

Jenna McMurtry | December 3, 2023 8:53 pm

Pomona dean addresses faculty on arrest, college to look into campus policies - The Student Life

A Pomona faculty member was arrested on Pomona campus on Nov. 29 (Talia Bernstein • The Student Life) 

Approximately 48 hours after the arrest of a Pomona College faculty member on charges of trespassing, Dean of the College Melanie Wu issued the college’s first statement to faculty on Friday, according to an email obtained by TSL.

In the statement, Wu said the college “does not consider trespassing to have occurred on our campus.”

Wu also reiterated The Claremont Colleges Services’ Friday statement to TSL, which indicated Pomona had not learned about Campus Safety’s decision to request the assistance of the Claremont Police Department (CPD) until after the arrest.

 “Our expectation is that Campus Safety would have consulted with Pomona’s senior administrator on call before contacting police in a nonviolent, nonemergency situation,” Wu said in the statement.

Wu added that no one at Pomona was involved in Campus Safety’s decision to call the police.

In another email to faculty sent Friday evening, Wu directed faculty to the TCCS statement for more information, which TCCS initially sent to TSL midday Friday.

Wu also added that she hopes the administration can provide more information by the time of the next faculty meeting next Thursday. 

As of Sunday, the college has not sent any communication to students or the wider Pomona community regarding the arrest of the Intercollegiate Department of Chicanx/Latinx Studies faculty member.

President Gabi Starr sent an email Friday evening to the college community about the threats “antisemitism, Islamophobia and shared ancestry discrimination” pose without specifically mentioning the arrest.

“We have reviewed or are reviewing every complaint we have received, and any violations found will be addressed with discipline under our code of conduct,” Starr wrote. 

Starr said Pomona will also add “shared ancestry” as a category in the college’s harassment policies to clarify protections for faculty, students and staff, explaining how antisemitism and Islamophobia apply to the updated nondiscrimination policies.

The college also plans to clarify its protected speech policies.

Claremont Police Department arrests Pomona faculty member on campus

On Wednesday afternoon, the Claremont Police Department (CPD) arrested a Pomona College faculty member on trespassing charges. At the time of their arrest, the faculty member was demonstrating in solidarity with Palestinians in front of Smiley Hall, playing music from a speaker. They were located 500 feet away from Big…

December 1, 2023 3:44 am

01Dec LIDCLS Claremont - Chicano-Latinx studies

https://twitter.com/idcls_claremont/status/1730631936702550289/photo/1

https://twitter.com/idcls_claremont/status/1730631936702550289/photo/1

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The Claremont Independent

05Nov Claremont Faculty Release Statement Supporting BDS

The Claremont Independent | Nov 5 2023

A new Claremont College faculty statement on Gaza has garnered over 175 signatures since its release on October 31st. While mourning “all loss of human life,” the statement’s signatories write that they are “especially concerned for the welfare of residents of Gaza, who have already suffered for nearly two decades under Israel’s blockade.”

They describe Israel’s counterattack on the Gaza Strip as a “new and alarming phase in the long record of violence, displacement, and colonial domination of Palestine….The roots of this new phase lie in a well-documented 75+ year history of Israeli settler-colonialism, military occupation and apartheid.” As of November 5th, the attack has resulted in almost 10,000 Palestinian deaths according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.

The statement seems to criticize an earlier letter signed by 65 Claremont McKenna faculty members condemning Hamas’ October 7th attack. “Without an acknowledgment of… context, condemnations only of specific acts of violence perpetrated by Palestinian armed groups can serve to disavow the roots of violence under a seemingly neutral mask of humanitarian concern,” the statement reads.

The statement also endorses the Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (BDS) movement aimed at cutting off foreign investment in Israel. The statement calls on members of the Claremont Colleges community to promote BDS until Israel “1) ends its siege of Gaza and its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantles the Wall; 2) recognizes the fundamental rights of Palestinians in Israel to full equality; and 3) implements the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN Resolution 194.”

The letter also expresses concern over threats to pro-Palestine faculty members’ speech rights allegedly posed by “Zionist advocacy organizations.” 

“In addition to violating constitutional free speech rights,” the statement reads, “such closures on critical social thought and public discourse violate academic freedom, are antithetical to the missions of our Colleges, disrupt our capacity to fulfill our professional, scholarly, and pedagogical responsibilities, and stifle our students’ efforts to engage in public political action.”

The statement concludes with a call to action: “We call upon our colleagues in Claremont to join us in this solidarity, by contacting Congressional representatives to demand a ceasefire, supporting BDS efforts, and upholding academic freedom and free speech protections for all community members.” 

As of November 5th, 145 faculty from across the Claremont Colleges had signed on publicly, with an additional 33 declining to provide their names. 

Claremont Faculty Release Statement Supporting BDS

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05Nov Divest Claremont Submits Legal Complaint Against Pomona College

(TSL) Charlie Hatcher Nov 5 2023

On Monday, October 30th, the student group Divest Claremont Colleges, in collaboration with the Climate Defense Project, submitted a legal complaint against Pomona College to California Attorney General Rob Bonta. The complaint alleges that the Pomona College endowment’s investment in fossil fuels violates the California Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act.   ..continue reading..Divest Claremont Submits Legal Complaint Against Pomona College

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31Oct STATEMENT: Claremont Consortium Faculty Statement on Gaza 

October 31, 2023

As faculty at the Claremont Colleges, we continue to watch with concern the escalation of violence in Palestine and Israel; to mourn, without reservation, all loss of human life in Gaza, in Israel, and across the occupied Palestinian territory; and to lament the suffering of civilians throughout the region, whose targeting is prohibited by international law. 

At this time, we are especially concerned for the welfare of residents of Gaza, who have already suffered for nearly two decades under Israel’s blockade that has trapped over 2 million Palestinians in an enclosed, densely populated area. In retaliation for the Hamas attack on civilians and military targets on October 7, Israel has tightened that blockade, depriving Palestinian civilians of water, electricity, and food. “We are putting a complete siege on Gaza,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stated on October 9. “No electricity, no food, no water, no fuel. Everything is closed. We are fighting human animals, and we will act accordingly.” This dehumanizing language is characteristic of ethnic cleansing and genocide. Recently circulated Israeli think tank and intelligence ministry documents lay out plans for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza in preparation for Israeli settlement. 

The Israeli bombardment since October 7 has, as of October 30, killed over 8300 Palestinians in Gaza including entire families and children, and has destroyed or damaged Palestinian homes, schools, universities, mosques, churches, and hospitals. This onslaught has displaced over one million Gazan residents, who have no safe place to take refuge. Israel has bombed the Rafah crossing, the sole land-entrypoint into Gaza not controlled by Israel, disrupting the flow of aid to besieged Palestinians, even as the US is supplying additional military hardware to Israel. This most recent siege and bombardment is the fourth such campaign in 15 years, attacks that have killed thousands of Palestinians, perpetrated by one of the world’s most powerful and nuclear-armed militaries against a vulnerable civilian population, the majority of whom are refugees from successive waves of displacement by Israeli settlement and ethnic cleansing since 1948. 

This is a new and alarming phase in the long record of violence, displacement, and colonial domination of Palestine. As UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese has stated, the current situation is the result of “decades of oppression imposed on the Palestinians, brutalization, structural violence of course punctuated also by eruptive violence.” The roots of this new phase lie in a well-documented 75+ year history of Israeli settler-colonialism, military occupation and apartheid. 

Although it may have been exacerbated by the rise to power of the most extreme right-wing coalition in Israel’s history, the ongoing violence and terror inflicted by the Israeli state must be understood in the context of this settler-colonialism and Israel’s apartheid regime, which has been documented in exhaustive detail by the world’s most respected human rights organizations, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, as well as by the United Nations and by one of Israel’s most established human rights organizations, B’Tselem. The past year alone has seen repeated incursions by Israeli military into towns and villages on the West Bank and attacks by extremist settler gunmen, who have burned Palestinian homes, murdered Palestinians, destroyed their crops, and terrorized families into leaving their homes and farms. However, the dispossession, displacement, and repression of Palestinians across historic Palestine has been the policy of every Israeli government since 1948. Israel-based legal rights organization, Adalah, documents over 65 laws that discriminate against Palestinians within Israel. The military occupation of the West Bank has led to two distinct legal regimes that systematically privilege the rights of Israeli settlers in illegal settlements while denying the most basic rights of housing, freedom of movement, and security to Palestinians. In occupied East Jerusalem, Palestinians are daily evicted from their homes to make room for settlers and are under constant threat of losing residency rights. Palestinians are subject to arbitrary arrest and indefinite detention without charges: two in every five Palestinian men have been arrested, and among the thousands of Palestinians in Israeli prisons are at least 170 children, many of whom have been subjected to intense interrogation and even torture. 

These conditions, as enumerated by multiple human rights organizations, violate international law on multiple counts. As the New York Times reported on October 10, “Israeli airstrikes flattened mosques over the heads of worshippers. At least two hospitals, and two centers run by the Palestine Red Crescent, have been hit. So have two schools run by the U.N. agency that helps Palestinian refugees.” This is in line with Israel’s pattern of targeting civilians, hospitals, schools, places of worship, and entire neighborhoods over decades. Without an acknowledgment of this context, condemnations only of specific acts of violence perpetrated by Palestinian armed groups  can serve to disavow the roots of violence under a seemingly neutral mask of humanitarian concern. This is particularly the case for successive US administrations and their Congressional backers who have for decades provided material support and political cover to Israel’s apartheid regime and are therefore complicit in its every individual act of violence and in the total system of injustice that US aid enables. In fact, “The United States has given Israel more than $260 billion in combined military and economic aid since World War II.” Alarmingly, the US is currently bolstering its military presence in the region. Given this backdrop of one-sided US aid, we urge US citizens who wish to condemn any instance of violence in Israel/Palestine to recognize US complicity in Israel’s apartheid regime and its expansionist project of dispossession and ethnic cleansing. Without that commitment, the repudiation of one form of violence and endorsement of another is hypocritical. 

If we repudiate violence, we are then bound to engage in an active practice of non-violent activism and organizing to transform the conditions that sustain and reproduce militarism and violence. In the case of Palestine, that action has been clear and effective. Palestinian civil society has unanimously called for a campaign to impose Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) on Israel until it 1) ends its siege of Gaza and its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantles the Wall; 2) recognizes the fundamental rights of Palestinians in Israel to full equality; and 3) implements the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN Resolution 194. In the US, that campaign has already had a major effect in transforming public opinion. But only a redoubling of BDS efforts in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for liberation from settler colonial domination can make the complicity of the US state politically unacceptable. Along with student groups already working on the cause of justice for Palestinians, we urge all those concerned at the Claremont Colleges and beyond to further the emancipation of Palestinians from apartheid and colonial domination to redouble efforts to promote BDS on campus and in professional associations and civil society organizations everywhere.

We further share our outrage that Zionist advocacy organizations have subjected and continue to subject Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim students and faculty, students of all backgrounds who advocate for Palestinian rights, and faculty of all backgrounds who teach on Palestine and Israel to bullying, harassment, and suppression of their right to free speech. The Center for Constitutional Rights and Palestine Legal have termed this suppression “the Palestine exception,” where all forms of public advocacy, self-representation, and freedom of speech are permitted except in the case of Palestine. In addition to violating constitutional free speech rights, such closures on critical social thought and public discourse violate academic freedom, are antithetical to the missions of our Colleges, disrupt our capacity to fulfill our professional, scholarly, and pedagogical responsibilities, and stifle our students’ efforts to engage in public political action. We reject all forms of discrimination, including Islamophobia, anti-Muslim racism, anti-Arab racism, and anti-Semitism -- which should not be conflated with critiques of Israel or Zionism. As reaffirmed in a recent statement by the Claremont Colleges AAUP Chapter Executive Committee, we therefore insist that each of the Claremont Colleges uphold academic freedom and the right to freedom of speech for all community members. 

We stand in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and with our colleagues in occupied Palestine. We invite our colleagues and students to learn about Palestinian history and to recognize their full humanity. We ask our administrations to reaffirm their commitment to academic freedom and freedom of expression without threat of censure or retaliation. We call upon our colleagues in Claremont to join us in this solidarity, by contacting Congressional representatives to demand a ceasefire, supporting BDS efforts, and upholding academic freedom and free speech protections for all community members. For additional actions you can take, see the websites of the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights and Jewish Voice for Peace. 

Claremont Consortium faculty who want to sign this statement should email claremontfjp@gmail.com. Pre-tenure, contingent, and visiting faculty as well as faculty whose administrative positions preclude them from signing such statements may sign anonymously by emailing that address.

Claremont Consortium Faculty Signatures

Pomona College: Article IV: Speech Code 

https://catalog.pomona.edu/content.php?catoid=46&navoid=9121

DEFINING FREE SPEECH

Speech Code: Pomona College believes that free speech is critical to Pomona’s mission as an educational institution, and therefore, the norm is that speech and other forms of expression are protected. 

Protected Speech

The First Amendment protects the exercise of free speech in ways that sometimes makes us uncomfortable, and our courts have consistently applied the First Amendment to protect speech that is insulting, outrageous and offensive. The First Amendment protects most speech that is commonly considered “hate speech.” Under California’s Leonard Law[1], the College cannot discipline a student for speech that would otherwise be protected under the First Amendment, even when members of the College community find it offensive or repugnant. This includes wearing political messages or slogans on a hat, shirt, or other clothing.  

Hate Speech

Contrary to a widely held misconception, “hate speech” is generally protected by the First Amendment. This has been established law for over a hundred years. Only if the speech fits within one of the categories of unprotected speech can it serve as a basis for disciplinary action against the speaker.

The term “hate speech” often refers to speech that insults or demeans a person or group of people on the basis of attributes such as race, religion, ethnic origin, shared ancestry, sexual orientation, disability or gender. While the College condemns speech of this kind, there is no “hate speech” exception to the First Amendment; under California law, the College is only permitted to discipline a student on the basis of speech if the content or manner of the expression falls into one of the categories described below as “unprotected speech”. 

Unprotected Speech

Certain limited categories of speech and other forms of expression are unprotected by the First Amendment and would constitute a violation of the Student Code subject to a disciplinary response: 

•  Speech that constitutes harassment as specifically defined in the College’s Non-Discrimination Policy Regarding Student-Related Matters, i.e., speech based on one or more Legally Protected Characteristics, and so persistent, repetitive, pervasive or severe that it has the purpose or effect of substantially interfering with or materially limiting a reasonable person’s ability to participate in or benefit from the College’s educational programs or activities.

• Speech that constitutes fighting words. To constitute fighting words, the speech must meet all of the following three criteria. First, the speech must be addressed at a specific individual or particular group of individuals. Second, the speech must be abusive rather than a communication of ideas. Third, when considered objectively, the speech must be likely to provoke a violent reaction. 

• Speech that incites imminent lawless action. To constitute incitement of imminent lawless action, the speech must meet all of the following three criteria. First, the speech must advocate for, or attempt to cause, lawless action in the near future. Lawless action includes, but is not limited to, violence or the destruction of property. Second, when considered objectively, the speech, in context, must be likely to produce such lawless action. Third, the speaker must intend to cause such lawless action. 

• Speech that constitutes a true threat. To constitute a true threat, the speech must communicate a serious intent to harm a specific person or a particular group of persons. While the speaker does not necessarily have to intend to carry out the threat, the speech must 

(1) cause the individual to subjectively fear for their physical safety and

(2) cause a reasonable person in their situation to feel the same level of fear in order to qualify as a true threat. 

• Speech that materially limits the College’s educational function.  Examples of speech that constitute a material limitation of the College’s educational function include but are not limited to speech outside of a classroom or dedicated educational setting that is so loud as to disrupt a classroom or similar learning environment, protests that block access to a classroom or educational setting or hinder or prevent a scheduled class from convening. 

• Speech/material that constitutes obscenity.  To constitute obscenity, appeals to the prurient interest, that depicts sexual conduct in a patently offensive way, and that, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value. 

• Speech that infringes on the First Amendment rights of others through coercive disruption, defined as the physical interference with others’ peaceful exercise of free speech. Examples of this “heckler’s veto” are physically blocking access to a speaking event, physical intimidation of a speaker, and noise-making that prevents a speaker from being heard. If this type of conduct occurs during any College-sanctioned activity or function, the College reserves the right to restore conditions under which free speech can flourish. Any student who engages in coercive disruption may be removed and subject to disciplinary action. 

If the speech meets any of the requirements of the subpoints as stated above, students who are identified may be invited to have a conversation with any of the involved parties to further understand the details of the event. If, during these conversations, the College determines that the speech does violate all of the requirements of one or more of the exceptions stated above, the College may choose to pursue disciplinary action. 

In addition, the College may reasonably regulate the time, place, and manner of expression to ensure that it does not disrupt the ordinary activities and/or programs of the College.

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[1] In pertinent part, the Leonard Law states that “No private postsecondary educational institution shall make or enforce a rule subjecting a student to disciplinary sanctions solely on the basis of conduct that is speech or other communication that, when engaged in outside the campus or facility of a private postsecondary institution, is protected from governmental restriction by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution or Section 2 of Article I of the California Constitution.”